The Right Way
by BonneyQ
Summary: When people don't understand how you love, it can cause pain and doubts about how you really feel. Juvia tells her friends how she loves Gray and hopes she does it right. [Gruvia]


**AN: **I saw a few people bad mouthing Juvia and the way she didn't love Gray, that she was just a stalker. That's my answer to them.

And this One Shot is dedicated to my friend **Esthellar**, whose birthday is today! I love you, waifu. I hope you like this.

**#**

**The Right Way**

**#**

"I heard she stalks some guy of Fairy Tail."

"Really? Which one?"

"He has dark hair, takes his clothes randomly. Kind of cute…"

"Yeah, I know him! He is _totally_ cute. Too bad he has a stalker. Psycho."

_Stalker_. Juvia flinched with the word the girls inside the grocery store were whispering not-too-low, but continued to pick the groceries from the shelves; lots of junk food for the girls night. Once a month they got together so they could – _yes_ – do each other's hair and talk about boys. They were tough, they were mages that faced death all the time, but they were also _girls_.

This time the Water Mage was to be the hostess; her room in Fairy Hills was going to be that night's location, since the last time was at Levy's, so Juvia Lockser had to go shopping for food, that pretty much consisted in potato chips, chocolate and ice-cream. The blunette was in a very good mood at first, but when she heard those girls…

_Stalker_.

…it hurt.

After paying and thanking the cashier, Juvia exited the store as fast as she could and trying her best to not shed the tears that were threatening to fall. The blunette was used to hear gossip about her behavior (people would whisper about her oddness since she was a child) and by the age of eighteen she was used with pointing fingers.

Just because she was used to it, didn't mean that she liked it.

The truth was that Juvia agreed with most things people said about her: she _really_ brought rain when she was sad (her magical power would get unstable and she would summon rain without noticing), she wore some strange clothes (Juvia tried to change her style from time to time, but she liked her dark blue dress and hat), she could be a little stoic from time to time (not when her friends were around, though), among other things.

But what pained her was to be called a stalker. And maybe she was, but the pain she felt when hearing those words was real even if it was true.

Shaking her head, Juvia let those thoughts go when approaching Fairy Hills, otherwise the girls would get silly worried. Hiding her fears, just like she always did, the young woman went to prepare her room to receive her guests.

**#**

"Hey…" Lucy noted that the Water Mage was looking outside the window with sad eyes and got worried. They were having fun, as fat as the blonde could tell: they out make-up on each other, painted nails (Asuka, who came with her mother, didn't participate in those activities), did their hair and ate a lot of junk food while talked about boys. It was cliché, but was fun all the same. "Are you okay?"

Juvia looked slightly startled with the hand on her shoulder; she was too deep in thought to notice the Stellar Mage approaching. Smiling lightly, she nodded. "Yes."

"You don't seem okay, Juvia." Erza said from her futon on the ground just like the other girls'.

"You haven't said a word about Gray all night." Levy was munching some potato chips. Now that she thought about it, Juvia didn't talk much, only giving her insight about a few things and not mentioning Gray once, which was more than strange, since the blunette would jump at any opportunity to talk about how great he was.

"Something happened?" Mirajane asked sweetly while still doing her sister's make-up.

The blunette bit her lower lip and hesitate before making up her mind. They were her friends and maybe she could take a few things from her chest while talking to them.

"There were these girls at the grocery store and they started talking about Juvia…" She hesitated. "And they called her a stalker." The girls shifted uncomfortably. "Juvia knows that she _does_ have this tendency, but… It doesn't mean that she likes to be called that. It seems so... cold."

"Juvia…" Lucy sighed and put an arm around the Water Mage, leading her towards the futons where the other girls were. "I am sorry."

Both sat and the other women stared at the blue haired mage, waiting for her to continue pouring her heart out. And pour her heart was what she did: "When Juvia first met him, she thought he was the most handsome man she ever met. Still does, actually. But… something in his eyes made Juvia's heart beat faster. He told her that he would fight her with all his might so he could save his nakama." She looked towards Lucy for a moment. "Gray-sama showed more integrity within a few minutes than most men Juvia met in her life showed _ever_. And even though it always rained, he stopped it. By the end of our fight, Juvia was able to see the clear sky and… It was _so_ beautiful. It was so nice to feel the sunlight on her skin. It didn't matter Juvia lost. It didn't matter that he could kill her if he wanted. All that mattered was that the sun was beautiful. At that moment, Juvia would've died happily.

"But Gray-sama didn't do it." The Water Mage smiled softly with the memory. "Instead, he asked her if Juvia was ready for the next round." The blunette's cheeks were rosy. "Then… Juvia couldn't help but follow him around." She shrugged. "It was… nice to see him. Even without talking to him it made Juvia happy, you know? Just to see if he was alright. He did, of course. Gray-sama looked so happy. _All_ of you looked happy and it was strange to see such a nice Guild. Phantom Lord was…" The Water Mage looked down. "Well… That's when Juvia decided to try to get into Fairy Tail. It was a long shot, but…"

"You made it." Bisca chuckled, holding the sleeping Asuka on her arms – the little girl was too tired to be awake for the whole night.

"Yes." Juvia nodded lightly. "After that, she started to learn more and more about Gray-sama and the sparkle she felt when we met, it grew." Her eyes started to water. "No one is perfect, of course, but he is perfect for Juvia, you see? He is _the one_ for me. Juvia can feel it." A tear fell and the blunette quickly cleaned her face. "Gray-sama, he… he doesn't feel the same way and Juvia knows it's _not_ normal the way she handle things, she knows that people frown upon it and that they don't understand. But… sometimes looking from afar is _all_ she gets and it's nice to see him smile even when he's not by her side. Gray-sama doesn't have strong feelings for Juvia and she really hopes he will someday, so… Juvia watches and wait for a day that may or may not ever come.

"Juvia doesn't love him because he is handsome, Juvia doesn't love him because he is strong. Juvia loves him because he makes her see the sun. There's no other way to explain it." A few tears fell from her eyes and this time she didn't bothered with hiding them. "In a world of darkness, Gray-sama became Juvia's sun."

The girls looked at each other with knowing smiles – they never heard Juvia talk about Gray with such intensity, pouring her heart for real –, while the Water Mage looked down, and after a few moments dried her tears.

"Oh, sweetie." Lucy chuckled and put one of Juvia's hands between hers. "You love him just right."

"You don't need to hear what others say." Levy said kindly.

"They don't know how you feel, you do." Lisanna told the blunette with a smile.

"And _you_ know you truly love him." Erza shrugged.

"So… Don't doubt yourself again, alright?" Mirajane completed the Titania's thoughts.

"All girls have done some crazy stuff when they're in love. And if they haven't, they will." Cana giggled. "I was banned from three cities after a guy dumped me. We were together for five days, but still... It hurt my feelings."

"What did you do?" Juvia asked, surprised with her friend's words.

"Can't say: part of the deal to get free, but anyway…" The brunette changed the subject. "We all do crazy things for love; you are not the first one and sure won't be the last."

"Once I threatened a woman with my rifle when she stared at Alzack's for too long." Bisca giggled while passing a hand through her daughter's hair.

"Bisca!" The girls said in unison and with horror. They would never expect the green haired woman to be so jealous.

"_What_?" Bisca stared at the others and then smirked. "We had just started dating and I was a little afraid of him leaving me for someone else because I had a nightmare the night before which he did the same."

"Satan Soul woke up after I had my heart broken." Mira said. "I was twelve, in love with a neighbor. Very cute, he was seven years older and wouldn't even dream to look at me. He started dating a girl and when I saw them together… Broken heart." The barmaid sighed. "It woke up Satan Soul and I became a little bit of a bitch for a couple of years." Erza nodded, agreeing with the statement. "Love can change people."

"Juvia changed." The blunette nodded, understanding the older woman's feels. If her Gray-sama started to date another woman, she would wake up something like Satan Soul and then probably leave Fairy Tail. Or die with heartache, whichever came first, but above it all, she still hoped to have him feeling more than just friendship towards her. They started as enemies, and then became friends… maybe they could reach the next step. "It doesn't matter how it starts, as long as it never ends. Right?" The girls nodded and the Water Mage felt slightly more relaxed.

She knew her feelings and she had friends who supported her. The love she felt for Gray was real, no matter what people said.

**#**

**AN:** I just _hate_ when people don't see that Juvia's feelings are deep and just put her under the 'Stalker' label and forget about the deep bond they have, even if it's just one-sided (which I personally think it's not. Not anymore). Newsflash: she _really_ loves Gray. People might ship other pairings, but ignoring and lowering her love is just mean.

Anyway, this one-shot is not to create flames or anything, just to make my point that Juvia's feelings are real. What do you think? :D

10/10/2013 ~ **BonneyQ**


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